Sheehan spurs mayoral speculation

Treasurer may seek Jennings' job; Corey Ellis making plans

Updated 11:51 pm, Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Kathy Sheehan, the new Albany city treasurer, addresses those gathered in the rotunda at Albany City Hall in Albany, NY on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, following his swearing in. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union archive)

ALBANY — In January, city Treasurer Kathy Sheehan gave a sharply worded response to Mayor Jerry Jennings' State of the City speech that many viewed as her unofficial declaration that she will run for mayor next year.

Ten months later, Sheehan is poised to make it official.

Sheehan, 48, a Democrat elected treasurer in 2009, has invited supporters to join her for an "important announcement" at 1 p.m. Saturday in front of the Moses Statue in Washington Park.

Privately, Sheehan has told others — including Jennings — that she intends to run, according to a person familiar with her plans.

With former Councilman Corey Ellis also planning a rematch of his 2009 primary loss to Jennings, the stage is potentially set for a three-way Democratic race should Jennings seek a sixth term. It may also rekindle anxiety within the city's so-called progressive Democratic community that their ranks are once again too divided to topple a firmly entrenched incumbent.

Jennings, 64, a 19-year-incumbent, has not said publicly whether he plans to run again. But the region's most well-known Democrat has given no indication that he won't.

In recent months he has seemingly extended a hand to corners of the Democratic Party with which he has sometimes feuded by endorsing state Sen. Neil Breslin for re-election and Councilman Frank Commisso Jr., the son of influential Democratic power broker Frank Commisso, for Assembly.

(Sheehan backed the six-way Assembly primary's eventual winner, former school board President Patricia Fahy, much of whose base may now rally around Sheehan.)

Asked Tuesday about the mayor's plans, his spokesman playfully declined to comment.

"I'm sure at the appropriate time we'll all know the answer to that," Bob Van Amburgh said. In 2009, Jennings did not formally announce his plans until April, well after Ellis and then-Common Council President Shawn Morris had already jumped into the race.

Albany has had only three mayors since 1942, including the record-setting 41-year tenure of Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd.

Sheehan's entrance into the race is not surprising. She has been raising money for well over a year, making the rounds to the city's neighborhood associations and attending small house parties.

Sheehan, a former corporate lawyer with Intermagnetics General Corp. in Latham, easily defeated incumbent Treasurer Betty Barnette in a 2009 primary. Barnette, an ally of Jennings and the former chairwoman of the county's Democratic Party, had been politically weakened by the fallout from a scandal surrounding her office's handling of parking tickets. Sheehan won more votes in the primary than any other candidate for citywide office that year, including Jennings.

She and Jennings have not often publicly sparred in the three years they have shared the first floor of City Hall. But Sheehan has not shied away from faulting Jennings' handling of the city's finances — most notably the debt-laden Rapp Road landfill — and what she has said is his administration's failure to embrace technological change to streamline city government. "Every year, we're led to the edge of that cliff and we're expected to be grateful that we don't fall over," Sheehan said in January in a speech before a largely friendly gathering of the city's progressive RFK Democratic Club.

Jennings' administration has responded to those critiques by pointing to the city's bond rating, the highest of any upstate city in New York, as an affirmation of his fiscal management.

As treasurer, Sheehan's responsibilities include managing the city's investments, paying bills and overseeing payroll, a system she has criticized as hopelessly outdated.

With Jennings' intentions uncertain, next year's political landscape remains considerably in flux. School board President Dan Egan has acknowledged considering a mayoral run, and Common Council President Carolyn McLaughlin also has been discussed as a potential candidate. County Legislator Gary Domalewicz has said he plans to run for treasurer.

On Tuesday, Ellis said his plans to run again — which he has openly discussed since days after his 2009 loss — have not changed. He said he was unsure when he might make a formal announcement.

McLaughlin, 58, said it's too soon for her to say where she'll set her sights next year, but she will be running again for citywide office. "I think we all have to make those decisions in our own time," McLaughlin said. "I won't be hasty in it because I do think that too much does ride on it."

In 2009, a messy split between supporters of Ellis and Morris is credited by some with paving the way for Jennings' re-election. Morris dropped out of the race in July, but many of her supporters never embraced Ellis, who won 44 percent of the primary vote but still fell well short of toppling the charismatic incumbent. It was, however, Jennings' closest election in more than a decade despite outspending Ellis nearly 9-1, according to a campaign finance database maintained by the state Board of Elections.

Despite the loss, Ellis' supporters were buoyed by those results. Others vowed to prevent a repeat of the intraparty split.

As of July, the most recent filing, Sheehan's campaign reported $20,677 on hand. Jennings' 2009 general election campaign balance was just shy of $1,400.